cruise-climbing

Verb

cruise-climb (third-person singular simple present cruise-climbs, present participle cruise-climbing, simple past and past participle cruise-climbed)

1. (intransitive, usually) To slowly but continuously climb during cruise flight as the aircraft's weight decreases due to fuel burnoff (done because flight at higher altitudes is more efficient but requires a lighter aircraft).
   • For a transatlantic crossing, the Concorde would be assigned a ~15,000-foot block of altitude; it started out at flight level 450 and gradually cruise-climbed up to between FL570 and FL600 over the mid-Atlantic before beginning to descend.

See all 2 meanings of cruise-climb